The Hunted
by RyNe
Summary: After almost a year's lull in operations, the Knight Hunters are now threatened to be torn apart and face their greatest enemies... THEMSELVES.


chapter1

The Hunted

Disclaimer:

The rights to Weiss Kreuz and all trademarks related to it are reserved by its respective owner/s. The author does not claim any ownership to any of the aforementioned trademarks.

Notes: Be warned: This story is a bit wordy, and there are some quirks with the facts.

CHAPTER I: Glimpses

_Thud. Thud._

Aya had hardly even broken a sweat as the two big and amazingly muscular guards dropped unconscious to the floor. This was only the Knight Hunters' thirteenth case in eleven long months. Almost a year has gone by since that major conflict between them and the Takatori. After that, only a few cases surfaced that required the special operations vigilantes' attention.

Personally, Aya, otherwise known as Ran, thought that the relative calm was good for the Knight Hunters in that they could rest and rejuvenate their battered bodies and minds, as well as boost their morale. Most of the 13 cases had been easy enough for them, and that contributed more to their recovery.

This latest operation was probably the hardest, but still relatively routine.There's this drug syndicate, allegedly headed by a Chinese business-monger named Chen Liao. They distribute an extreme, strength-enhancing superserum. The serum increases the user's physical aptitude tenfold, but with devastating side effects ranging from going berserk to bursting of the heart and blood vessels. It was the mission of the Knight Hunters Aya, youji, Omi and Ken to end the madness brought by this drug syndicate.

Aya had completed his first directive quickly, knocking out the two guards holding the elevators. Omi took care of the neutralizing of the perimeter and interior laser defenses and 'blinding' the five security rooms' cameras, allowing easy entrance inside the 42-storey building. Youji and Ken took to the stairs, and will rendezvous with the team on Level 42.

Aya took the elevator going up and pressed the button for the top floor. He ran to the rendezvous point, and meeting him there were the rest of the Knight Hunters. They all nodded silently, acknowledging the start of the final phase of the operation.

Facing the quartet were two giant ferrocrete-reinforced doors. Behind those doors was the leader of the drug outfit.

"Omi." Aya gestured with a nod to the youngest Knight Hunter carrying a medium-sized backpack. Omi nodded and went closer to the toughened steel doors.

Removing his backpack from his shoulders, Omi took a gray and green satchel bag about the size of a basketball (albeit square) from inside the backpack. The satchel bag was filled with fifteen kilos of napalm, pentaglycerine and other unspecified forms of incendiary substances. Omi positioned the bag on the floor lying square on the center of the two massive doors. He motioned for the others to get clear as he himself went to cover. Then he took out a device the size of a PS memory card from the pocket of his navy blue and white hooded jacket. He pressed the single red button on the center of the device, and in two seconds, the massive ferrocrete doors were blasted from their hinges, leaving debris and ferrocrete fragments scattered on the floor and smoke still floating almost everywhere.

Not waiting for the surroundings to clear, the quartet went back to their feet and darted inside the huge chamber formerly sealed by the giant doors. There were men on the ground, probably unconscious or dead from the blast, still clasping their Sig Commando SG552 rifles. Directly to their distant front was an old Chinese man, still recovering from the shockwave. He was a bit dazed, but was already recovering.

Aya was the one who steeped up to the man.

"Liao. It's time to end this madness."

The Chinese man was unable to get back on his feet and fell to the floor. 

"N-no... please don't... koff koff... don't kill... me..."

"Too late for that now, don't you think?" Youji said, with a grin on his face; a half-amused, half-disgusted grin.

"N-not my... koff! mettle... wanted to...koff koff!... test... weak... limits..."

"He's babbling. It's over, man." Ken said.

"Aya, let's end this. I need some sleep, and the authorities are probably on their way." Omi mused.

"Indeed... let us end this. Liao... Go to Hell!"

With one swift motion, Aya drew out his Katana and struck Chen Liao square in the heart. 

Liao died instantly, mouth agape and wide-eyed. 

Aya sheathed his swordand gestured his hands toward the wide and jagged hole they made with the satchel charge."He'll be bothering no one anymore. Come, let us leave this forsaken place."

With that, the vigilantes quickly scurried off, nothing more than ghosts in the night air.

Another day at the office, another case closed for the Knight Hunters.

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From the rooftop of the 50-storey Grayson Tower opposite the 42-storey Liao Enterprises Building, a solitary figure stood, still holding a pair of nightvision scopes. The man had been witness to another of the Knight Hunters' headhunting missions. With a wide smirk on his face, the figure walked toward the roofop stairs, satisfied with what he had seen. 

"Now I must also rest. It's time for the big game to start soon, my dear vigilante friends."

A while later, the silent midnight air was filled with the horns and sounds of mobile police units and paramedics. 

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"Hey Ken!!! Get outta there! It's morning a'ready! " 

Ken Hidaka glared at the morning sun as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He got up and lumbered his way to the bathroom sink. As he washed away the last traces of drowsiness, he began to think.

Huh. I feel tired? Am I getting tired of this job? Of being a Knight Hunter? Nah maybe maybe I'm just getting bored, is all. Shrug it off, man. Gotta get up! 

Ken showered and then put on the topmost clothes on his drawer, and made his way to the Flower Shop (without even bothering to check his hair).

"Hey there, pretty boy. Finally decide to wake up and help us, huh?" said Yohji Kudou, partly in jest after seeing Ken's ungroomed look.

"I'm just a bit drowsy from last night's operation." Ken replied.

Omi Tukiyono stopped watering some daisies to comment. "Oh. Speaking of last night, news reports claimed that a 'hell-bent-for-leather terrorist outfit which had a feud with the Liao people' were responsible for the massacre."

"Why don't we ever get the credit we deserve, eh?" mused Yohji. 

"Now that's new. Ever since, the media has blamed everything on the Knight Hunter vigilantes. Why would they wanna cover up for us now?"

Finally, Aya spoke. "I'm looking into it. For now, Ken, why don't you deliver five dozen flowers to various pretty ladies across town?" Aya threw the keys of the van towards Ken.

"I'm coming, too! Can't let Kenny-boy here hog all the fun!" joked Yohji.

Aya seemed unamused. "Make it quick. The two of you still have tons of trash to throw outta here."

"Yessir!" Ken saluted casually and ran towards the van. Yohji ran after him. "Ken!!! Wait for me!!!"

Aya shook his head.

"If they're not back within an hour or two, I'm gonna kill Yohji myself."

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[Across town, a half-hour later]

Ken checked the little address note Omi gave him and cross-referenced it with the address plate beside the residence's front door.

"Yep. This is the place, all right." 

"Let's go, then."

Ken knocked on the door lightly. "Flowers for Ms. Maria Grayson!"

A few seconds later, a cute, young woman opened the door (to Yohji's delight). She had shoulder-length black hair, pretty eyes and an incredible smile.

"Hi. I'm Maria. That's for me."

"Here you go, ma'am." Ken said as he handed Maria the bouquet of roses.

"Thanks. And here's the cash.Keep the change."

"Our pleasure." Yohji replied.

"Mister, by the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Yohji."

"Not you! Him!" Maria said, gazing intently at Ken, bending down and leaning forward to survey him up close.

"Me? Well, I uh I'm Ken."

"Hi Ken. You're really cute! Can we go out sometime?"

Ken looked at Yohji, giving him a 'what-am-I-supposed-to-do' look.

Yohji gestured for him to just ride with it.

"Uhh s-sure. Why not? uh When?"

"Just call me anytime." Maria paused, "Better yet, I'll just call you! Okay! Bye!" Maria said, closing the door.

"What was that?" Ken asked Yohji.

Yohji crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't know Why do you have to get the girl?!?" Ken snarled back, "Hey, I didn't ask for it, you know! Now let's get back to the Flower Shop or Aya'll waste our butts off."

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Derikk Tsujimoto watched intently as the unmarked flower delivery van sped out of the big mansion he and his partner Shawn Hannigan was watching in their reconfigured BMW. When the van was no longer in plain sight, Derikk reached for his mobile phone and contacted the only person in the phone book.

"This is Mobile Actual, copy." Some static filled the sound, partially due to the distance between Derikk and his contact.

After a few more moments, a firm tenor voice responded. "Derikk... so nice to hear from you. Well?" 

"I'm just here to report that target 02 and 04 have made contact with an unknown lady, delivering flowers but coming to more terms than I can hope to pick up. I'm eyeing further developments until I find it necessary to cut surveillance." 

The voice answered back, "I was just going to tell you that, but... oh well. Just fill me in with whatever info you can come up with concerning the targets."

"Yeah, whatever." he snarled, closing the cellphone's outer casing panel.

_I have a feeling that this circumstance is gonna be worth more than it looks. Hey... what's up with this guy?_

"Hey, Shawn... you sleeping back there?"

Long pause.

Finally, the figure beside Derikk Tsujimoto spoke. "I'm just thinking that we have a potential target out there." he said, pointing towards the big mansion. 

"Aaaaaaand...?"

Shawn Hannigan's eyes narrowed. "I'm still stumped about who our 'mystery employer' is, and how'd he know enough to make us watch this mansion and that we'd spot our 'targets' here?"

"He pays us. It's not our place to question. It's easy enough anyway." 

Hannigan shrugged.

"So far."

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Yohji was driving the delivery van into the last few intersections heading back to the flower shop. Ken sat beside him, still feeling a bit awkward about the way he felt just a little while ago... the feeling of boredom mixed with some fatigue. 

_Maybe it is time to try something new... yeah! Of course! I'll go out with that Maria chick. She's rich, and she's reeeeallly beautiful! Maybe I didn't realize it earlier, but she's a goddess! Wonder when she'll call..._

"'You're sooooo cute! Can we go out sometime?'", Yohji snarled, mimicking Maria Grayson.

Ken looked at Yohji with puzzlement. "Excuse me?"

"Geez! You get to have all the fun!"

Obviously, Yohji was not happy with the way things turned out. Of the dozen women they delivered to this morning, only Maria looked decent enough, and was old enough. Yohji hadn't been on a date for weeks, and the idea of 'his touch' slipping away was really eating at Yohji.

"Sorry... hey, it isn't like I planned it or anything. It just came up."

"Oh well. Tons of other girls there anyway. So, will you?"

"What?"

"Will you go out with her?"

"Yeah. Come to think of it, I guess I will."

"Yeah, that's good... Ok, we're here."

Ken and Yohji got off the van, to be met by Aya. Aya had a mixed look of concern and anger on his face, though that was often the case. Something had to be up.

Ken spoke up first. "What's up?"

"Probably nothing, but Omi got hold of something suspicious. After today's work, Omi will brief us on what he found out."

"Hoo-kay." Yohji said, turning towards the garbage heap he was supposed to throw out.

"I hope it's nothing." Ken muttered, also turning to do his work.

Aya was left pondering inside the flower shop in the middle of the scorching summer day. So far, nothing really serious has happened ever since their conflagration with the Takatori oppressors, and there was no hint one was about to come up now. Yet, Aya couldn't help but wonder on what's going to happen, coupled with a strange sense of foreboding he felt.

_Yes, Ken. I sure hope it's nothing, too._

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TO B CONTINUED!!!

Hope u liked the intro chapter!!!!!! I'd welcome any comments/suggestions and reviews! ^_^#


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